Improbable Matters
by aquajogger
Summary: In matters of the heart, nothing is true except the improbable. Christmas in the castle? What's that got to do with anything? RxC, RuxTint, THATCHELUpdated, FINISHED.
1. Part 1

In Matters of the Heart...

Dedication: This is dedicated to Bonny Fyfa. Her story may have died, but I'm still in love with it, and hope that she gets her computor privilliges back and her story revived!

Disclaimer: I don't own Thats or Kitchel. Nor do I own that wonderful realm from which they come. Wish I lived there, however. I'd settle for being a maid in the castle! Don't wanna be some Mary Sue...

Warning: Some cussing(Trying to be good about my language! I want presents for Christmas, ya know!!), no real time line(Some time after the books, I suppose...), no connection to any of the other stories I'm putting up here. Side pairings, too! ...Well, they are actually pretty well featured to be side pairings... Ah, well, I just felt like writing them in. :sweatdrop: Hey, it's still mainly a Thatchel!

Oh, they are also celebrating Christmas. No offence meant to all those who celebrate a different winter holiday. It's just that I'm the most familiar with Christmas. Well, with the pop-culture version. I know about as much about traditional Christmas as I do Hannukah.

::n::

"Thats, do you know where--," Rune entered the Dragon Knight of Earth's private chambers.

"...Whoa. What happened in here?" he looked bemusedly around the spacious bedroom, eyes jumping from sheets of multicolored paper spread across the floor, to long strands of bright ribbon, to boxes of different sizes, some open, some already sealed closed.

"Hey," Thats answered distractedly, holding bright green and red paper in place around a small present and searching blindly for a missing pair of scissors with his other hand.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced up, spotting the previously vanished object and snatching it in his right hand, "Presents. Holiday spirit and all that."

Rune looked around the room again.

"Presents... For the whole castle?"

"Lord, no. Just the basic people. You, Rath, Cesia, the officers, the Lord and Lady, some of the Dragon Fighters, that maid who cleans my room," he paused, ticking off names on his fingers, "And a few other people."

Rune let out a low whistle.

"Wow. That's a lot. Where'd you get the money?"

"Oh, you know," The ex-thief casually shrugged, "Sold some stuff. Nothing belonging to the castle!" he added in quickly, correctly predicting his friend's next accusation.

"Just some old stuff I'd picked up a long time ago that I didn't want, but never got around to turning in."

Rune stared around the room again.

"Geez. Hord, much?"

Thats rolled his green eyes.

"Hey, at least I got you a present. A nice one, too."

"Really?" the Elf looked curious, "What? Can I see it?"

The Dragon Knight of Earth shook his head vigourously, sending brown hair flying in all directions.

"Nope. Gotta wait," he grinned, casually shoving a patially wrapped box behind his back.

Rune rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"Got it. Do you need any help with the wrapping?"

"Nah," Thats glanced around the messy room, "I've got it."

"Whatever you say. But Thats," Rune said, suddenly realizing something, "Chirstmas is tomorrow. You realize that, right? How are you going to get all of this finished, much less handed out in time?"

The Dragon Knight of Earth laughed, "You underestimate me. I'm a thief, remember? I'll get it done."

"All right," Rune decided to let him have it his way, "I'll leave you to your wrapping, now. You better have gotten me something nice!" he teased, leaving his friend to his own devices.

As the door slid shut behind the Elf, Thats relaxed, shoving an already wrapped parcel under his bed.

"Good thing he didn't see that."

He ran his hand through his messy hair, "Elves. Very distractable."

Rolling his eyes, he pulled the small, partially-decorated box out from behind his back.

"Great. Why is this thing so hard to wrap?"

The ex-thief turned the item over in his hand, smoothing out the already crinkling paper and tape.

Green eyes narrowed in a fierce glare at the innanamite object which obliged by promptly falling to the ground.

"Ah, no!" Thats scrambled to pick it up, brushing it off quickly.

"Damn. Dented."

About to glare at it again, he decided against it, instead placing it gently on the floor and picking up a different parcel, still in need of wrapping.

"Why do I have the feeling that this is gonna take me all night?"

The empty room provided him with no response.

"Yeah," he sighed, "I thought so, too."

"Rath, have you seen what Thats is up to?"

The dark-haired Knight cocked an eyebrow curiously.

"No. Why?"

"He's attempting to wrap presents for half the castle in a few hours," Rune explained, sitting himself down on a wooden chair across the empty dining table from his friend.

Rath gave the other a questioning look.

"As before, why?"

The Elf shrugged, crossing his white-clad arms over the smooth wooden surface.

"Tomorrow's Christmas."

Rath leaned back, slowly processing that information and all that it implied.

He sat up suddenly, resting his chin in the cup of his hand, elbows on the table, an impish smirk on his face.

"What're you getting me?"

Rune looked at him, torn between indignation and embarrasment.

"Uh, what?"

"Come on," the half-demon teased, "You have to have gotten me something. It's Christmas."

The Dragon Knight of Water managed a shaky, not-quite-convincing grin.

"Yes, I did. I got you something. Of course. I, um," he stood akwardly, searching for a plausible excuse, "Need to, um, go feed the Darnias now."

That said, he left as quickly as his screaming concience would let him, heading for the castle gates, monthly paycheck still hot in his hand.

Rath snickered to himself.

"That got rid of him. Now," he casually reached under the table, retriving a small pile of hastily wrapped presents.

"I have my own delivering to do."

Glancing down at the box on top, he laughed again at his mental image of Rune's face.

"I suppose I should drop this off at his room..." his dark eyes suddenly widened in unconcealed shock, "Shit. I forgot to get something for Cesia."

"There!" Thats wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from his brow, "Finished another one."

He placed the foot long package on top of the already sizable pile of gifts next to him, looking at them admiringly.

"That was a nice one," he commented, "No tears. Nice and smooth."

He stood, stretching, and stole a glance around the spacious room.

"Good, almost done. Just a few more."

His eyes trailing over the few parcels left unwrapped, they were suddenly drawn to the smallest box, now devoid of paper, laying on his bed.

The Knight's mouth set in a disgruntled line.

"Stupid thing. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why'm I spending so much time on it?"

Striding across the chamber, he snatched it up, casually tossing it from hand to hand.

"Huh."

He raised the rough package to his face, settling a light, half meant glare upon it.

"Just like her."

Carefully pushing the palace doors open, Rune slipped inside, holding them in place, then pulling in two large, stuffed to the brim bags behind him.

As the doors slammed back into place, shaking the ground he was standing on, he looked up the long flight of stairs before him, a long soul-wrenched sigh tearing from his lips.

"Great. Just great."

He began to resignedly climb the stairs, hoisting his purchases with him, and pausing every few feet to readjust his grip upon the stinging handles of the bags.

"Who's bright idea was it to go shopping on Christmas Eve, anyway?" he grumbled to himself, hauling the items up another few steps before halting once again, rubbing his smarting palms.

"Yes," he sighed once again, wincing at the opening blisters appearing on his hands, "This is going to be a long Christmas."

Rath grinned, his odd lock of white falling messily into his face.

"Yes, knew I had something, somewhere."

He was seated in his room, hastily packing a length of silken material fashioned into what appeared to be a short dress into a small red bag.

"Good idea: buying everyone birthday presents early."

A mischivious smile appeared on his face, and he made no attempt to remove it, still too pleased at his brillience to much care.

"Now all that I have to do is hand these out," the cocky grin broadened, "Easy enough."

Mind filled with a temporary Chirstmas cheer, he left the room, whistling a light hearted tune to himself.

"Yes," he locked the door behind him, "It's going to be a good Christmas."

"It's going to be a crap Christmas," Thats declared, lying face down on his bed, head resting in his crossed arms.

"I'm all but finished, and I'm stuck," he complained, "On one last stupid wrapping job."

The said present sat untouched on his pillow, virtually staring him in the face.

"I'm running out of time if I want to deliver these," the Knight sulked, stealing a glance at the finshed presents sitting expectantly by his door.

"But," he let his voice trail off into the silence, thick with temptations of both cheer and misery.

"I need to finish this."

Thats pushed himself off the mattress, coming to rest in a seated position on the edge of the bed, feet hitting the floor.

He ran the image of the box through his mind, musing over it silently.

"Maybe," Thats considered the newfound idea, "I'm going about this the wrong way."

A grin lit upon his face as an old memory surfaced.

"It's like wishing on the Dragon Eyes."

Relief soared through his body as the young man stood, snatching up a chosen few packages and started out of the room. He stopped, considering. Then he backtracked, lightly picking up one more small unwrapped box, and dropped it into his pants pocket.

"Just in case."

It was night. Dark light shone in through the windows, and the yellow glow of a candle snuck in under the crack of the door. Footsteps halted outside, then a key was placed in the lock and turned. The bedroom door opened, allowing a slim figure entrance.

Kitchel yawned.

"Man, it's late," she spoke to the shadows, her hand still resting on the chill bronze doorknob.

"Actually, it's still rather early. I'm just tired."

Shrugging, she sauntered inside, dropping her jacket lazily on the floor and placing the half-spent candle next to her bed.

It was Christmas night, but she was all alone.

Review? Please?

Part two coming soon! :grins:

Kudos to anyone who caught the line from book five.


	2. Part 2

...Nothing is True Except the Improbable

Dedication: Dedicated to... Capella! Why? Okay, even though she hasn't posted a Thatchel, she has written one... I say, just get a free e-mail off hotmail(What I did. :sweatdrop:), get an account, and POST! But the point is that she has a Thatchel. n-n Merry Christmas, Capella!

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Knights! Trust me, bad little kids who lie don't get toys from Santa! :nods:

Warning: Not much. Perfectly safe fic.

Note: For f'the love of... My paragraph breakers got taken out on the last chapter. Thanks, all, for not yelling at me about that.

:n:

Thats slipped through the hallways of the vast castle, nonchalantly searching out the rooms of his friends. This task was made doubly difficult by the three or four good-sized boxes he carried in his arms.

"'Kay, this is Rune's room," he shifted the parcels in his arms to allow his right hand space to grasp the handle of the door.

"Please let it be unlocked."

His wish was heard, for the door opened smoothly, granting him access.

The Knight of Earth gently bumped the top parcel out of his arms and onto the neatly made bed.

"One down, three to go. Then back for another load."

He grimaced at the thought of spending the next hour trekking across the castle ground as a delivery boy.

Sliding silently out the door as unobtrusively as he had entered, he smirked to himself. The door locked behind him with a soft click, and he set off for the next room, present in his arms.

"Alfeegi..." he trailed off, a mental image forming in his mind. Visions of irate Dragon Officers with several blunt objects at their disposal whirled through his head.

"Please, please let Alfeegi be out."

:n:

"Cesia?" Rath wandered down the long corridor, "Cesia?"

Stopping for a moment to mentally retrace his steps, he shifted the singular remaining present from hand to hand.

"I checked the gardens, the kitchen, the Darnias," a nagging sensation tugged at the furthest corner of his mind.

Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his hand flew up to smack himself upside his head.

"Of course!"

Rath spun around in his tracks, quickly walking down the way he came.

"Her room!"

:n:

Rune collapsed at the top of the main stairwell, panting.

"Good... Lord..." he sent a dirty look towards his purchases.

"Why are we participating in this human," his voice didn't drip with venom, but it wasn't exactly pleased, either, "holiday and tradition?"

He shook his head, damp strands of golden hair sticking to the back of his neck and face.

"Right. Thats."

He stood up once more, grasping the straining handles of the shopping bags for another attempt to make it to his chambers.

"I don't even want to know what sort of hassle he's going to try to put us through for..." he struggled for a human holiday and came up short.

"...Spring Equinox; or whatever it is they celebrate."

A foolish, yet highly disturbing idea of hidden eggs and hideously fluffy rabbit suits flittered through his mind.

There was a slight snapping noise and a loud pop.

Rune twisted around to see what had happened, and stopped dead in his tracks.

One of the bags had ripped, spilling it's contents across the marble floor.

"Oh no. Oh, please, no."

He sighed.

"A very long Christmas."

:n:

The ex-thief slipped silently out of the previously locked door, closing and sealing it behind him.

He grinned boastfully.

"Yup, still got it."

Setting off down the hall again, by now holding significantly less packages than earlier in the afternoon, he read off the names of the few remaining parcels he carried.

"Rune, Ruwalk, Tetheus," he shifted the bottom package, "And the Dragon Fighters."

Pausing at a fork in the passages, he chose the path that lead towards the main entrance of the castle.

"I suppose I should give the Dragon Warriors their gift next. I don't really want to find my way across the castle grounds in the dark, and the sun's going to be setting soon."

Musing out loud to himself, he pushed open the large doors near the top of the main stairwell, and stumbled over something lying directly in front of them.

"Watch it!"

"Huh?" Thats regained his balance, spinning around in time to see a harried looking elf scramble over and pick up the package, quickly dusting it off.

"Rune? What are you doing?"

Rune sent him an irritated look.

"Trying to deliver these. What does it look like?"

"Right."

Thats' eyes lit up.

"Hey, hold on. I've got something for you."

Snatching the top box off the small pile in his arms, he handed it to his fellow knight, a slightly sadistic smile playing about his mouth.

"Rune," the smirk widened, "Merry Christmas."

:n:

Rath knocked on the thick oak door.

"Cesia?"

He shifted the present under his arm, almost loosing his grasp on the sleek paper wrapped around it.

"Cesia, are you in there?"

Not receiving any response, he tried the handle: unlocked. Slowly opening the door, Rath walked silently into the darkened room. As he took another step, however, a floorboard groaned under his foot, and he froze. But not for long, however, as a hand tapped him on the shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

A teasing voice spoke softly next to his ear.

"Sneaking into my room while I'm out, Rath Illuser?"

The Dragon Knight turned around, faux casually holding the wrapped gift before him.

"Here. Merry Christmas, Cesia."

:n:

Darting back into the main section of the castle, the Knight of Earth slipped in through a side door, leading him into the kitchens. Trying to concentrate while being assaulted on all sides by the sights and smells of what was shaping out to being a very nice winter feast was proving difficult. Thats whipped out his list, forcing his eyes to stay on the paper instead of roving about the crowded room.

"Right, next is Rath," he gave his friend's present a small shake, "And then..." his eyes trailed down the list, "Hey, almost done!"

Grinning, he crumpled up the paper and shoved it into his pocket.

"I think I deserve something for this," Thats stated, looking hungrily around the room.

"That pie looks good, but this one looks even better... Oh, and they have cranberry sauce! And this ham, wow. Ah, who'm I kidding?" He asked himself, letting the presents fall to the floor, "I'll just take them all!"

:n:

Rune was sitting in his room, on his bed, looking very pleased with himself. It came in handy to have a Dragon willing to deliver small parcels for you.

A tapping at his window informed him of Water's return.

"Water," he quickly got up to let in the chibi-fied creature, "Did you give them all out?"

When the Dragon nodded it's small scaly head, Rune relaxed visibly.

"Good. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to find everyone.

Turning his back on the Dragon, he didn't see the confused look on it's face, nor the tentative sign it held up.

:They were for more than one person...?:

:n:

Walking down the castle corridors once again, Thats fished out the list out of his pocket, a remarkable feat considering he was carrying a turkey sandwich, a dozen red and green cookies, and what appeared to be a whole blueberry pie in his arms. He scanned it briefly, then managed to put it away, although slightly coated in blueberry juice.

Passing a door, he backtracked and came to a stop in front of it. With not a small amount of effort, he managed to separate a red-wrapped parcel from the other items, and get one hand free to grasp the door handle.

He paused.

A large anime style sweatdrop appeared bobbing on the back of his head, and he took a step backwards from the room and the faint noise emitting from it.

Fighting back the urge to laugh nervously, he carefully dropped the present onto the ground.

"I'll just leave this here."

After a moment of consideration, he let a second colorfully wrapped parcel fall to the ground beside it's mate.

"Cesia's, too."

:n:

"What?!" Rune appeared to be beside himself with fury. In reality he was beside himself with frustration, irritation, shock, and a mind-numbing all-powerful panic.

"You did what?!"

He didn't wait for a response from the light blue Dragon, instead returning to his pacing around the bedroom, frantically talking to the empty air.

"All those presents... You gave them all... To one person?! But..." confusion started to set in, "But you were gone for a couple hours. How could it have taken so long to give all of that to just one person?"

Water looked up from where he had been amusing himself preening since the start of his master's panic attack.

:Well, it takes a long time to fly to the Faerie Forest and back...:

Rune paled.

"No. Oh, no. You didn't..."

((Meanwhile, in the Faerie Forest...))

"Huh?" A particular Elven Princess had just opened an interesting looking red and green striped box, and was now staring at it's contents with a highly confused look on her face.

"A copy of 'Fordor's Guide to Demon Locations'?"

:n:

As Thats continued his rather lengthy tour of the Dragon Castle's corridors and hallways, he managed to catch a glimpse of the outside world through a floor length glass paneled window.

The sky was deepening to a violet black, end rays of the sun still visible over the garden and far off mountains.

He paused in the late holiday rush, almost lazily looking over the darkening scenery.

"It's getting late."

Thats slipped his now empty hands into his pockets.

"I'm running out of time."

With a slightly put out sigh, he removed them and continued on his way, footsteps coming just slightly faster than before.

:n:

"Maybe it will be okay," Rune said, pacing across his chambers, "Maybe she will actually like the stuff..."

Water yawned, casting a glance out the window he was resting on to watch night continue to fall, then back in to watch his master continue to walk back and forth.

"Maybe she won't mind. I mean, it wasn't anything too bad; I didn't actually get Rath that weird poison dagger thing..."

The Dragon turned it's attention back to the setting sun, pointedly ignoring the Elf.

:n:

"Right."

Thats was standing outside the last room he needed to make deliveries to, fidgeting with a small plain white box.

Shifting his weight from foot to foot, he watched as the seconds ticked by since he had seen it's inhabitant enter alone.

Then, finally, with a determined gleam in his eyes, the Dragon Knight reached out, and slowly turned the doorknob.

"Here goes nothing."

:n:

The flickering glow of the quickly waning candle provided the only light in the small bedroom.

Kitchel stretched, casually kicking off her soft-soled boots and knocking them under her bed before kneeling on it herself, facing out the open window and looking over the castle landscape.

"Hope I don't have to be anywhere early tomorrow."

Distracted as she was by continuing her monologue, she missed the sound of the door slowly opening, and then the noise of floorboards softly creaking under another person's feet.

"Ah, well," she shrugged to the dark yet again, "No matter now."

Her green eyes traced the shadowed outlines of the gardens.

Suddenly sensing a presence behind her, she spun around as best as she could in her current position, mentally kicking herself for not noticing anything earlier.

Confusion lit upon her features.

"Hey."

Thats gave a small smile, innocently tossing her a minute unwrapped gift box.

She caught it and looked back up at him, bewildered expression still present on her face.

He grinned.

"Merry Christmas."

:n:

Hououza: What? How can you not have read Book 5 in a while?! Impossible!

Rath Lover: Well, it wasn't exactly soon, but it was on schedule.

Kat Ho: Yay! I wrapped yours! n-n It's all pretty and wrapped! :absolutely LOVES wrapping things:

Peridot-chan: As always, love the name. Fluff is good. n-n Updated!

Shadowdown: Lol, yeah.

Capella: :nodnod: Christmas! My favorite part is wrapping the gifts and trimming the tree! :enjoys decorating things: Yeah, I felt that I should give the other people SOME time in the spotlight...

Brotee: Why, yes! You are back! I finished the GMG... Possibly...

:n:

Midway through writing this, a thought came to me. Is it just me, or does anyone else find it ironic that they wouldn't have been rushing like maniacs if it hadn't been for Thats. Thats, who, especially in the first couple books, was portrayed as the King of Slackers?

To any RuxTint fans... Do you also have the feeling Water ended up taking Rune to the Faerie Forest in order to get him to shut up?

And, just to clarify, I actually don't know what the present was. He wouldn't tell me.

Review?


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